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Ìèíñê.:
"Ïðîïèëåè", 2000. - 200ñ.,
ISBN
985-6329-29-9 |
Óñìàíîâà,
Àëüìèðà Ðèôîâíà
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Umberto Eco: the paradoxes
of interpretation
Summary
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This book draws on
semiotic conception of the well-known Italian semiotician, philosopher
and writer Umberto Eco. He is one of the most significant thinkers of
the late 20th century and his influence on the current situation in the
humanities is unquestionable: he introduced and elaborated a number of
very important topics and concepts for aesthetics, theory of semiotics,
reception theories, philosophy of language, postmodernism ( such as:
"the open work", "apocalyptic and integrated intellectuals", "the triple
articulation of cinematic code", serial aesthetics, "textual
competence", etc.). Given the fact that very few theoretical texts of
Umberto Eco were translated into Russian it is not surprisingly that he
has got a reputation of highly successful novellist (a sort of 'Guru' of
postmodernism) while his theoretical achievements remain obscure (in
this country).
Therefore, the main task
for the author of this book was to introduce to Russian-speaking
audience 'another' Eco — Eco-semiotician and philosopher (Eco-writer was
left 'outside' the text). The variety of his research interests ranges
from medieval philosophy to contemporary visual culture; his "world" is
a universe where Thomas Aquinas neighbours Peirce and James Bond; and it
is hardly possible to tackle all the topics he deals with in one single
volume.This is why the problem of "interpretation" (and/or semiosis )
was taken as a key issue that seems to be the most consistent, highly
elaborated and virtually omnipresent concept in his works and that
allows us to walk easily through his 'narrative woods' following the
thread of investigation.
The author explores theoretical and cultural backgrounds, influences,
complex and fruitful relations, the dialogue between Umberto Eco and
European intellectual tradition. The inner evolution of Umberto Eco's
conception and its major theoretical innovations are articulated through
and related with French poststructuralism, medieval studies, theories of
communications and information, the discourse of European avant-garde
and neoavant-garde, Moscow-Tartu semiotic school, postmodern paradigm,
literary theories of reception, visual studies. The following issues
have been analysed in the text: the relations between language,
representation and cultural
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universe - the nature of semiosis; Eco's epistemological "pessimism" and
"uncertainty" (based on the critique of structuralism and the very
notion of 'structure'); the "ontology" of Umberto Eco in the context of
contemporary scientific theories (philosophy of Chaos, sinergetics and
the conception of "open work"); Peircean and Saussurian influences on
the semiotic methodology of Umberto Eco; the dialectics of text-reader
relations in his works - from interpretation to overinterpretation;
'visual semiotics' of Umberto Eco and contemporary film studies; Umberto
Eco and medieval studies: reconstructing the logic of medieval culture;
Scholasticism and structuralism: on two 'homological' models of
knowledge; the 'philosophy' of fakes and forgeries: Eco on hyperreality
of contemporary culture; from "open work" to "open semiotics": the basic
notions and principles of Eco's semiotic theory (dictionary/
encyclopedy; model Q; unlimited semiosis; the theory of iconicity;
denotation-connotation, etc.); Eco and contemporary art: from kitsch to
the aesthetics of postmodernism - the strategies of reception.
Contents: Instead of Preface: "better late than never". - In Search of
Alternative Eco-logy. — Intoxicated Reader of Umberto Eco. — "Little"
and "Big" Middle Ages of Umberto Eco. - World-Text Dialectics in
Medieval Philosophy. — Structuralism from the Point of view of
Scholasticism. — Reports from the Global Village. — Apology of
Aesthetics of Serial Forms. — Travelling through Hyperreality with
Umberto Eco. — Paradoxes of Visual Semiotics. — Poetics of Open Work. -
Philosophy of Chaos: The "Ontology" of Umberto Eco and Scientific
Picture of the World. — The Gutenberg's Galaxy in the Age of Internet. —
Semiology as an Adventure? — Unlimited Semiosis and the Limits of
Interpretation. — Genealogy of the Lector in Fabula. - Common Sense
Against Overinterpretation. - Model Reader and Model Author -
Rendezvous in the "Fictional Woods". — Kant and Platypus... in
Epistemological Thickets. — Conclusion.
Ñîäåðæàíèå
www.pseudology.org
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